Projectile

ABSTRACT

A projectile (1) for a cartridge for hand-held firearms comprises a core (2) and a core jacket (3). The core (2) is made of a material which has a higher specific gravity than the material of the jacket (3). The core (2) and the jacket (3) are positively interconnected. 
     In order to achieve a high penetrating power and a man-stopping effect and to ensure that the trajectory will be relatively short in case of a miss, the core (2) of the projectile is integrally formed on its periphery with deformed portions (6), which extend radially outwardly within a diameter range which is determined by the maximum core diameter and serve to establish a positive joint with the core jacket (3), and in a manner known per se the core jacket (3) is open toward the tip of the projectile.

This invention relates to a projectile for a cartridge for the hand-heldfirearms, comprising a core and a core jacket, wherein said coreconsists of a material which has a higher specific gravity than thematerial of the jacket and the core and jacket are positivelyinterconnected.

Projectiles having a jacketed core are available in various embodiments.In most cases the core is entirely enclosed by the jacket, which isintended to improve the sliding properties of the projectile in thebarrel and to reduce the wear of the barrel and the deposition ofmaterial in the barrel (U.S. Pat. No. 1,502,925 and 2,926,612 and Frenchpatent Specification 2,429,407). Similar remarks are applicable toprojectiles having a very hard core, which has an enlarged tip and isprovided with a jacket bushing, which encloses the core with theexception of its tip and is closed at the bottom (French PatentSpecification 2,431,676). It is also known to provide in shrapnelprojectiles a multiplicity of core particles in a plastic sheath so thatthe core is held together (U.S. Pat. No. 4,649,829), and projectiles arealso known which have a composite screwable core jacket and a specificcore, which is reinforced by a closely fitting sleeve. In that case theprovision of the core sleeve and the fact that the core is gripped bythe jacket elements which have been screwed together are intended toprevent a premature disintegration of the core as it impinges on atarget so that the effect of the projectile will correspondingly beincreased (Swiss Patent Specification 305,151). In order to achieve amore uniform effect of the projectile on targets spaced at differentranges, projectiles are also known which comprise two cores, which havebeen inserted one behind the other into an outer jacket, and the rearcore is additionally enclosed in a caplike inner jacket so that theimpact of the projectile will cause the forward portion to be upset andthe rear core will thus be radially expanded to a particularly largeextent whereas the parts of the projectile will not be disintegrated andthe shock action will be increased (East German Patent Specification250,986).

With other projectiles which are of the kind described firsthereinbefore and have been proposed a specific influence on the effectof the shot is achieved in that the core of the projectile and the corejacket are adapted to each other (French Patent Specification 2,321,108and 2,497,940). For instance, in the projectile disclosed in FrenchPatent Specification 2,321,108 the provision of a shoulder whichradially protrudes over the maximum core diameter results in a strongpositive joint between the core and the jacket and the projectile willact like an integral projectile as it impinges and in that case thejacket, which is closed at its tip only by a thin cap, will breakinwardly and the entire material from the tip region will be laterallythrown away. This will result in a rapid dissipation of energy and in agood shock action or man-stopping effect. But the ability to penetrateis not satisfactory. On the other hand, in the projectile disclosed inPublished French Application 2,497,940 the core and the jacket, whichentirely encloses the core with the exception of the bottom, areinterconnected only by a slightly upset portion at the bottom end of thejacket so that upon an impact the core will immediately pierce the thinlayer of the jacket and only the core will penetrate the target and, asa result, the desired penetrating power but only a weak shock andman-stopping effect will be achieved.

Projectiles expected to have a high penetrating power have previouslybeen made of a material having a high specific gravity and have beenpropelled by a high-explosive propellent. For this reason suchprojectiles combine a high penetrating power and large ranges so that incase of a miss such projectile will result in an uncontrolled danger tothird persons even at a large distance and such projectiles cannot beused in police operations or the like. In a police operation or the likeit will be desirable to use projectiles having a strong man-stoppingeffect and when they miss the target will involve a danger only within asmall range. Besides, a relatively high penetrating power is desired sothat conventional armor, which can resist projectiles of hand-heldfirearms, can be penetrated. But the known projectiles meet saidrequirements only in part and for this reason their use particularly inpolice operations is often unsatisfactory.

For this reason it is an object of the invention to provide a projectilewhich is of the kind described hereinbefore and which is mostsatisfactory as regards the mutually opposing requirements calling for ahigh penetrating power and a strong man-stopping effect and for arelatively short trajectory when the target is missed.

The object is accomplished by the invention in that the jacketed core isintegrally formed on its periphery with deformed portions, which extendradially outwardly within a diameter range which is determined by themaximum core diameter and serve to establish a positive joint with thecore jacket, and in a manner known per se the core jacket is open towardthe tip of the projectile. Owing to that specific positive joint betweenthe core and the jacket the core and the jacket are sufficiently firmlyheld together so that they will not be separated upon an impact on softor plastically deformable target media and a joint penetration will beensured. Within the target medium the jacket will be expanded and curledso that the desired man-stopping effect will be achieved. On the otherhand, the positive joint is not so strong that it will resist an impactalso on hard target media so that only the heavy core of the projectilewill penetrate into hard target media and the desired penetration willbe achieved. The fact that the core jacket is open at the front end willfacilitate the curling of the jacket in soft target media and thestripping of the jacket upon an impact on hard target media.

If the deformed portions of the core consist of at least threeperipheral grooves on the bottom portion of the core, which grooves maymerge like screw threads, a positive joint having a desired strength caneconomically be established and said strength can be influenced by theselection of the number of grooves, the depth of the grooves, theprofile of the grooves, and the like.

A desirable further feature of the invention resides in that the tip ofthe core of the projectile protrudes from the core jacket and thecylindrical core jacket may axially protrude beyond the cylindricalportion of the core of the projectile, which cylindrical portion mergesinto a conical tip portion, or the forward end face of the core jacketmay adjoin and be flush with the envelope of the tip of the core. Inthat case an adaptation of the projectile to specific circumstances andan optimum effect of the projectile may be achieved in that the coreprotrudes to a larger or smaller extent, the size of a clearance spacebetween the core and the jacket is properly selected, the tip of theprojectile is properly designed, and the like.

In accordance with the invention the core jacket may be provided withaxially extending rated break points so that the curling of the jacketin a soft target medium will be facilitated and the man-stopping effectwill be increased.

The subject matter of the invention is shown more in detail in thedrawing in which

FIG. 1 is an axial sectional view showing a cartridge for hand-heldfirearms, which cartridge comprises a projectile in accordance with theinvention, and

FIGS. 2 to 5 are axial sectional views showing illustrative embodimentsof the projectile in accordance with the invention.

A projectile 1 for a cartridge for hand-held firearms comprises a core 2and a core jacket 3. The core 2 consists of a material which has ahigher specific gravity than the material of the jacket 3. The corejacket 3 has been deformed adjacent to its bottom on its outsideperipheral surface to have grooves 4 for ensuring a tight fit in thebarrel of the weapon as the shot is fired. This may alternatively beachieved by sealing rings or sealing caps tightly fitted on the corejacket. The core 2 of the projectile and the core jacket 3 arepositively interconnected by means of deformed portions 6, which areprovided on the core 2 of the projectile within a diameter range that isdetermined by the maximum core diameter. Said deformed portions 6 areconstituted by a plurality of equally spaced apart grooves or screwthreads and ensure that the core and jacket will be held together asdesired.

The projectile 1 is seated in a conventional cartridge case 12, which isprovided with a primer cap 13 and has a powder chamber 14 for receivingthe propellent charge. A vent 15 between the primer cup 13 and the powerchamber 14 permits the propellent charge to be fired.

The tip of the core 2 of the projectile protrudes beyond the core jacket3. As in the illustrative embodiment shown in FIG. 1 the core jacket 3may axially extend beyond the cylindrical portion of the core 2 of theprojectile so that there is an annular clearance 5 between the conicaltip portion of the projectile 2 and the core jacket 3.

In the illustrative embodiment shown in FIG. 2 the core 2 of theprojectile may protrude from the core jacket 3 not only with the tip butalso with a part of the cylindrical portion of the core. As is shown inFIG. 3 the top end face of the core jacket 3 may adjoin and be flushwith the envelope of the tip of the core. As is also indicated in theillustrative embodiment shown in FIG. 3 the core jacket 3 may be closedat the bottom and this will not adversely affect the effect of theprojectile. From the illustrative embodiment shown in FIG. 4 it isapparent that the tip of the core 2 of the projectile may have anydesired shape, such as a blunt shape.

In the illustrative embodiment shown in FIG. 5 the core jacket 3 isformed with rated break points 11 consisting of axially extendinggrooves, which are symmetrically arranged and extend from the top rim ofthe jacket into the region of the positive joint 6.

As a projectile in accordance with the invention is fired, the dischargeproper until the projectile leaves the barrel of the weapon will beeffected as in the case of a conventional projectile and the essentialdifference from ammunition of the conventional kinds will only becomeapparent from the action of the projectile as it impinges on hard orsoft target media.

When a projectile in accordance with the invention impinges on a hardtarget medium, such as a steel plate, the core 2 of the projectile willpenetrate into the steel plate because the core will displace thematerial which is directly ahead of the tip of the core. At the sametime, the core jacket 3 will be deformed on the surface of the steelplate and its diameter will centrally be increased around the point ofimpact of the core 2 of the projectile as said core 2 penetrates furtherinto the steel plate. After a penetration to a defined depth thepositive joint 6 between the core 2 and the core jacket 3 will beseparated and the core 2 of the projectile, which core has now beenseparated from the core jacket 3, will proceed alone through the steelplate so as to displace portions of the target medium and to pushportions of the target medium ahead of the core. Shortly before theultimate penetration the material which is pushed ahead by the core willbe punched in the shape of a cylindrical cup out of the steel plate.Thereafter the core 2 of the projectile and the cup which has beenpunched out will continue to proceed along their trajectory behind thesteel plate with a residual energy and at a residual velocity. The corejacket 3 will stick to that surface of the steel plate which faces themuzzle or will fall to the ground.

For a comparison, the same steel plate was fired upon with commerciallyavailable ammunition having the same caliber. The projectile weighedabout 8 grams. The projectile in accordance with the invention which wasused in that test had a weight of 2.3 g. The impact of the commerciallyavailable projectile on the steel plate did not produce an effect orproduced only a slight effect. On the other hand, a full penetrationwith a residual action behind the plate was effected by the projectilein accordance with the invention.

Upon an impact of a projectile 1 in accordance with the invention on ablock of plastically deformable alumina or on another soft targetmedium, sad projectile will penetrate inot the plastically deformabletarget medium. As the depth of penetration increases, the core jacket 3will be deformed in such a manner that it will first be expandedthroughout its periphery and will separate from the top portion of thecore 2 of the projectile and as the depth of penetration increases thecore jacket 3 will be curled toward the rear end of the projectile. Aclearance space 5 near the top will promote the expanding and curling ofthe core jacket 3 of the projectile opposite to the firing direction andas a result of that expanding and curling more energy will be dissipatedfrom the projectile in the plastically deformable target medium. Adifference from the impact on hard target media resides in that thepositive joint 6 between the core jacket 3 and the core 2 of theprojectile will not be separated upon an impact on hard target media butin that case the undeformed core 2 of the projectile and the stronglydeformed core jacket 3 will form a unit and owing to the deformation ofthe core jacket 3 the energy will be more rapidly transferred from theprojectile 1 to the plastically deformable target fluid than fromcomparable projectiles and the projectile will come to a standstillafter a relatively short penetration.

If the core jacket 3 is provided with three or more rated break points11, the core jacket 3 will be torn open along the rated break points 11and as the depth of penetration increases segmentlike portions of thecore jacket 3 will be curled opposite to the firing direction so thatthe diameter of the projectile 1 will be increased further.

It will be understood that the invention is not restricted to theillustrative embodiments which are shown but permits various materialsto be used for the core of the projectile, such as steel, hard metal,tungsten and the like for the core of the projectile and such asaluminum, aluminum alloys, plastics and the like for the core jacket.For an easy action on the barrel of the weapon the core jacket may beprovided entirely or in part with a protecting layer of copper, plasticor the like.

I claim:
 1. A projectile for a cartridge for a hand-held firearm havinga barrel of a predetermined caliber, the projectile comprising a corehaving a maximum diameter, and a jacket surrounding the core and havingan outer surface of a diameter corresponding to the caliber, an innersurface of a diameter corresponding to the maximum core diameter and anopen forward outer end opposite the cartridge, the core having a tipextending freely through the open jacket end, the core consisting of ahard material and the jacket consisting of a material softer than thecore material, the core material having a higher specific gravity thanthe jacket material, and the core having deformed peripheral portionsextending radially outwardly to an extent substantially equal to themaximum core diameter and into the inner jacket surface to establish apositive joint means between the core and the jacket, the positive jointmeans being firm enough to hold the core and jacket together upon impacton a softer target but not strong enough to resist an impact on a hardtarget.
 2. The projectile of claim 1, wherein the positive joint meansextends over a minor axial portion of the core.
 3. The projectile ofclaim 2, wherein the deformed peripheral core portions define at leastthree peripheral grooves at a bottom end portion of the core oppositethe tip.
 4. The projectile of claim 3, wherein the deformed peripheralcore portions are screw threads.
 5. The projectile of claim 1, whereinthe tip of the core protrudes from the center of the open-ended jacket.6. The projectile of claim 5, wherein the core has a cylindrical portionaxially adjoining the deformed core portions, and the tip is a conicalportion axially adjoining the cylindrical core portion..
 7. Theprojectile of claim 5, wherein the core has a cylindrical portionaxially adjoining the deformed core portions, the cylindrical coreportion having an outer end flush with the open end of the jacket, andthe tip is a conical portion axially adjoining the cylindrical coreportion.
 8. The projectile of claim 2, wherein the inner jacket surfacedefines three axially extending grooves extending from the positivejoint means to the open end.